ReactOS Distribution - Genesis

Whisper · Post by **Whisper** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:53 pm

Last night I was thinking. There arn't any ReactOS distributions (to my knowledge). Well, why not make one?

It wouldn't be anything too flash, just the current ReactOS with a cool theme, wallpaper and a small group of pre-installed Open Source applications.

Specifically I was thinking:

Critical Applications:

-Mozilla Firefox (Web Browser)
-Mozilla Thunderbird (E-Mail Client)
-OpenOffice 1.x or 2.x (Word Processing suite)
-FileZilla (FTP Client)

Non-critical Applications:

-Media Player Classic (There's no sound yet, but it can't help to get the ball rolling)
-A variety of Open Source codecs, along with instructions on how to download closed source ones (such as DivX).
-Some Public Domain MP3's (Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor and Dies Irae spring to mind).
-Some working Open Source games? Suggestions?

What do you guys think?

loki1985 · Post by **loki1985** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:02 pm

forget it as for now....

Illusionist · Post by **Illusionist** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:29 pm

It's too early to actively plan a distro. But, you can work on idea and wait until ReactOS at least becomes beta... Then, we can think about realization(s) of distro(s)...

By "working on idea", I mean: gathering info on available FOSS for win32, defining categories of software a distro should be able to run, testing the software and submitting bugs (or fixing if you have knowledge how to do that) hoping tested software will work in future, thinking about extra features you can deliver (too early for that), etc...

Matthias · Post by **Matthias** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:08 pm

I think this is a good idea which should be supported. This is a very good way to show developers what is working already and what's not, kinda like a showcase. After all, there's not too much to see on the ReactOS base system.
Also, this would make it easier to get people to test software on ReactOS.

However, i believe that a real distribution requires more than just some bundled software. My suggestions would be to enhance the installer so that you can choose which software to install and which not, and to program a package manager. The packages manager should be able to handle dependencies. For example, both Inkscape and Abiword need gtk+, but still, gtk+ should only be installed once. Making a distribution is certainly a very good idea, but it's also certainly not a trivial task. Good luck, get it started!

By the way, i suggest mplayer instead of media player classic, because mplayer works without DirectShow, and afaik DirectShow doesn't work yet. When it works, you can use ffdshow or XviD instead of the proprietary DivX codec

Illusionist · Post by **Illusionist** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:50 pm

A test bed distro? Wow... I didn't think of that. When you say it like that it sounds like a good idea.

Pharaoh_Atem · Post by **Pharaoh_Atem** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:20 am

Illusionist wrote:A test bed distro? Wow... I didn't think of that. When you say it like that it sounds like a good idea.

I tried to make a test bed server distro, but I discovered that ReactOS has problems with the VISE installer... So, I submitted a bug report for it... Yeah... Making test distros would allow ReactOS to be tested with much variation, the same way Windows is tested...

BangerDude · Post by **BangerDude** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:45 am

the same way Windows is tested...

lol

Post by **Ged** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:15 am

ReactOS distros make no sense, this isn't Linux ....

Wierd · Post by **Wierd** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:07 am

I dunno Ged--- A "Developer's LiveCD" may make a very beneficial distro to ReactOS at some point--

Throw on something like BloodShed with all the trimmings, RosBE, the WineTests suite, and other related development toys---- Could be very useful to new developers to the project that typically live behind Linux. Having nearly everything you need right at your fingertips is very handy, and makes development a little more convenient.

If GCC on ROS was more stable, I would have compiled such a package allready in fact.

Illusionist · Post by **Illusionist** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:03 pm

ged wrote:ReactOS distros make no sense, this isn't Linux ....

I can't agree with you. Mainly because it's not only Linux that comes in one or more distros... Man... It's Open Source... Open Source licence means anybody can (if he wishes) put together a distro. So, it is possible. That's what FOS movement is all about, actually. The Freedom (with big F).

Mrkaras · Post by **Mrkaras** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:41 pm

ged wrote:ReactOS distros make no sense, this isn't Linux ....

There'd only be one distro I'd be looking for, the one on the reactos oficial download list. (I agree with ged)

MadRat · Post by **MadRat** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:46 pm

Mrkaras wrote:
ged wrote:ReactOS distros make no sense, this isn't Linux ....
There'd only be one distro I'd be looking for, the one on the reactos oficial download list. (I agree with ged)

A distribution is what drives adoption. Linux without the different distributions is only a kernel begging for support. The fact is that the distributions grew up around Linux and drove its adoption by the geekdom.

mokrates · Post by **mokrates** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:55 pm

I think Debian/ReactOS sounds nice

theuserbl · Post by **theuserbl** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:55 pm

I think a ROS distro could make sense.

But the question is: What do you unterstand about "Distribution"?

If a Distribution means a completly modified version, where the kernel-source was modified and new compiled, then you are right: A Distribution makes no sense.

If you mean with Distribution a CD-image where you can choose after installing ROS, which software can also be installed, then it makes also not enough sense.
If the ROS-partition is on a Virtual Machine I would prefer something like my DistMaker light.

But if you want to create something like the Linux-Distro "Knoppix", a ROS-Live-CD with different software which can run on ROS, and which are already in the system installed, then it makes sense!!

ReactOS itself could not publish something like that.
ReactOS is only the core. But a Ditstribution could integrate a lot of third party software.
ReactOS is an OpenSource-project and so all must be OpenSource on ReactOS. But a Distribution could integrate software, which isn't OpenSource, but free of charge.

So I think, that a ROS Ditstri could make sense.

Greatings
theuserbl

Post by **Ged** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:23 pm

Illusionist wrote:
ged wrote:ReactOS distros make no sense, this isn't Linux ....
I can't agree with you. Mainly because it's not only Linux that comes in one or more distros... Man... It's Open Source... Open Source licence means anybody can (if he wishes) put together a distro. So, it is possible. That's what FOS movement is all about, actually. The Freedom (with big F).

I never mentioned open source. I just said a ReactOS distro doesn't make sense.

The closer we get to 1.0, the more feature packed and configurable it will be.
All software will be available via the package manager, and everything and anything can be tweaked.

Linux distros are required because Linux is only a kernel. ReactOS is a full operating system. What is the point in a distro? What would a distro provide the ReactOS can't?

What other operating system besides linux have distros? I can't think of any.

ReactOS Distribution - Genesis

ReactOS Distribution - Genesis

Distro makes sence

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